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SINGAPORE – The strong smell that lingers in a freshly painted room is unpleasant, and even unbearable, for many adults. But it is worse for infants, which is why mother-to-be Kimberly Ang, 24, will ensure she chooses only odourless paints when she moves into her new home.

“I’ve painted my own room before and I find that the smell is very strong when using paints without the odourless option. If it gets to even me as an adult, I can imagine it’ll be too strong for an infant. Plus, it takes a while before the room rids the smell completely,” said Mrs Ang, who is six months pregnant.

Using such paints would not only make things more comfortable at home, it is more environmentally friendly too. Odourless paints, such as those produced by Nippon Paint, contain less volatile organic compounds – substances that evaporate easily into toxic fumes at room temperature. The company is also taking additional steps to be environmentally-friendly throughout its supply chain, by reducing the amount of heavy metals such as chromium in its paint products, and by investing in automation and technology that mixes paint on demand to reduce wastage.